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Michigan Central Station, "Detroit's phoenix", rose from neglect and decay to its original glory. |
Barb and Chris tour Michigan Central |
Dramatic prose? Perhaps, but I'm allowing myself a little excess to match the incredible comeback story of Michigan Central Station. A masterpiece from the early twentieth century with ties to the Gilded Age Vanderbilts, it evokes a lot of hometown pride from the first step into its opulent lobby.
Restored waiting room, sans benches, for event space. |
Years of neglect left ruble and ash. |
Committing to our goal of becoming better tourists in our hometown, we eagerly accepted an invite to tour Michigan Central Station with friends, and podcast special guests, Rik and Carol.
A bit of history:
The Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) was a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad, which was owned by William Vanderbilt. From 1884 until 1913, MCR ran out of a depot downtown at Third and Jefferson, but the growing railroad business called for a bigger venue and a more convenient location. The ideal spot was found in Corktown, where it still stands today.
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Bronze chandeliers and Corinthian columns, part of the depot's grandeur |
The same pairing of architectural firms who designed Grand Central Terminal in New York were chosen for Michigan Central Station. With its cream-colored brick, marble floors, bronze chandeliers and Corinthian columns it was made to impress and reflect the growing status of the city of Detroit.
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Ticket office now serves as entry to the gift shop. |
The team of architect's final product was a three-story train depot and an eighteen-story office tower. At the time, it was the tallest railroad station globally with an accompanying out-of-this-world cost of, in today's dollars, 79.6 million.
That's just ten million short of what Ford Motor Company paid in 2018 to the Moroun family, who acquired the station after tax foreclosures in the 1990's.
Today's Tour:
Our ninety-minute tour, with an informative, well-paced guide, covered the lobby, ticket office, waiting room and men's lounge. The latter, outfitted with Mahoganey paneling, is filled with intricate ornamentation including acorns and oak leaves, symbolic of the Vanderbilt family, and downward-facing decorative spikes. Our star of the group gave the correct answer to the name of this pointy features and won a prize!
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Gentleman's lounge includes intricate ornamentation |
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Lounge's Mahoganey paneling |
Per our tour guide, the cost of restoration was one billion dollars. Honestly, it's not hard to believe. It wasn't just a new build, this was a complete rehaul of an historic jewel, long robbed of its beauty, and left to near rubble and ashes.
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Carol guessed question correctly and won a prize! |
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Tour organizers and special guests. |
The rise of Michigan Central Station is not a myth, but it did have some wildly admiral intervention. Dramatic, for sure. It's a comeback story that reflects the pride Detroiters can feel as that mammoth billboard broadcasts a different message of inspiration and promise.
And its worthy of our own come back - and often.